Into Your Arms
by The Fan Fic Reaper
Summary: Gai challenges Kakashi to a match: get the number of the next person who walks into the bar. Everything seems to go perfectly, so what is Kakashi's problem? KakashiXIruka
1. Chapter 1

I've been in love for the past year. It has really been great – I've even (temporarily) given up my books. But my relationship has suddenly started falling apart, and I don't understand what I've done wrong…or is he just getting tired of me?

I know that I'm late for everything we go to, and I know I sometimes get depressed over all the death in my life, but is that really a reason for Iruka to kick me out of the house like that? I guess, to truly understand the situation, I should start from the beginning.

Gai, my self-proclaimed best friend, and I were at a bar one weekend about a year ago. I was in one of my bad moods, thinking about Obito again – he was hurt very badly on a hike he, Rin, and I had taken when we were kids. Rin had gotten lost and Obito insisted on going off the map in a dangerous area instead of waiting until we could hike back to the ranger station and get help. We found Rin, after a while, but on the way back…Obito…I can't really talk about it…. We were able to get him to a hospital, but his pelvic bones were crushed and surgery couldn't help. He was given a few days to live. In that time he donated his eye to me for a risky surgery that could replace my blind, damaged eye and give me full sight.

"Kakashi! Let us have another rival battle! What shall it be this time?" Gai said excitedly, the same way he says everything.

I held out my hand for another rock-paper-scissors match. I beat him with paper. He always used rock.

"Aha! Beat my rock again Kakashi! That makes it 24:23!" Gai laughed and slapped me on the back. I gave him one of my signature smiles – the one most people have figured out is fake.

"Speaking of rocks, how is Lee doing as an instructor?" I asked to try to get him onto a subject he could drone on about without noticing my silence. He could talk about his Taijutsu school and his favorite pupil all day.

Tears streamed down the grown man's face and a sunset backdrop suddenly descended out of nowhere – at least that's how I picture it in my memories.

"Lee has come so far! He is my number one pupil!….."

He continued, but I wasn't listening. I shielded my eyes from his blinding smile and continued to sip on my sake, touching the scars around my eye which I kept covered to protect the precious gift that I was given. After only a few minutes of ignoring Gai, he put his hand on my shoulder, surprising me back into reality. That didn't really seem like all day.

"Kakashi, my friend, you have refused my proposals of counseling, antidepressants, and a shoulder to cry on for a long time. Hear this new proposal! Either you must try one of my earlier suggestions or you must accept a new challenge to be revealed after your choice!"

I thought about it for a few minutes. The challenges were usually hotwing eating contests, races, rock-paper-scissor matches (my favorite), and other things that had never taken too much effort or time.

"Let's hear this new challenge," I humored him with another smile.

"We will compete for the phone number of the next person who walks through the door!" Gai stood with his nice-guy pose.

A few people looked at us. I sighed and pulled him back into his chair.

"Now, now," I calmly patted the bruise my fingers left on his arm, "there's no need to bother the other people in the bar and drag them into our rivalry. Our matches are always about personal strength."

"Well, so is this one!" Gai pouted and rubbed his arm. He quickly turned back into his upbeat self, as I knew he would. "If you are as cool as you have always acted, my eternal rival, then you should be able to complete this challenge easily!"

I knew he wouldn't let me say no. It was only a phone number, I guess I could do this just to get Gai off of my back. He leaned in with an eager grin when I let out a defeated sigh.

"If it will make you happy," I replied and shrugged, letting a real smile rest upon my face when he jumped and fist-pumped. At least he was succeeding in getting me out of my mood.

We waited for a while for someone to come in. I was hoping it might be the waitress who seemed to have a crush on me – that would make it easier and it was almost time for her to walk in. Gai and I had talked to her quite a few times and he always looked forward to seeing her because she actually enjoyed his annoying ramblings. I think she only put up with him just so that she could talk to me, but I never told that to Gai. I didn't like to burst his bubble too often when it took the attention off of me and put it on some other unlucky passerby.

Gai and I turned (he a little more enthusiastically) when the bell on the door started to jingle. A young man, a little younger than Gai and I, walked through the door and I turned back to my so-called best friend with a sour expression. Ignoring my one-eyed glare, he winked at me with a thumbs up and hopped over to the table that the young man had sat down at. I called a waitress over, asked for more sake, and sat back to enjoy the show. I was actually surprised that Gai was doing a good job at keeping the words "youth" and "passion" to a minimum. (Iruka later told me he was afraid that Gai was a serial killer at first.)

After a few minutes Gai came back, defeated. I raised a toast to him and all of his eternal youth with a mocking smile. He stuck his tongue out at me in jest and told me it was my turn to try. I took the sake and my cup with me as I walked calmly over to the man's table. He was actually pretty cute. His hair was pulled back in a ponytail and he had a scar across his nose – my first calculated conversation starter.

"Hey sorry about that," I said, catching his attention. "My friend is extremely enthusiastic about meeting new people to the point of embarrassing everyone within a two mile radius."

I flashed my signature smile, sat my sake and cup down on the table, and took a seat beside him. He still looked nervous and uncomfortable from his first encounter with Gai.

"Do you drink sake?" I asked casually, pouring myself some more.

"Look," he said, "I really appreciate you and your friend's interest in me but I really don't want any sake and I, well, I really just want to enjoy some peace and quiet after moving all of my stuff in today."

So he had just moved, I gathered. "Oh, this?" I asked indicating the sake bottle. "You can't have any of that, it's mine, I was just wondering. And I truthfully want exactly what you want, but you see, that guy over there isn't going to leave me alone until I try to get your number. He's very competitive, so we have these little matches and you were the first one to walk through the door."

"Lucky me," he deadpanned.

"Yep," I replied flashing him another smile. "So how about this: let me stay over here and away from my friend for a while and I'll keep any other nutjobs away from your table. Then you can give me a phony number that I can show my friend and I'll leave you alone, hm?"

He gave me a small confident smile. "Right, we can try that."

"My name is Kakashi," I introduced myself.

"Mine is Mizuki," he replied and shook my hand. I asked him why he lied to me later and he explained Gai's serial-killer vibe and I understood completely. Sometimes I'm Asuma when strange people ask me my name, and that's how Kuranai and Sarutobi got together.

We sat there for a while without talking, but somehow a conversation got started. I can't remember who started it and I can't exactly remember what we talked about. I think rubber ducks came up in the conversation at one point and we got into a pretty serious conversation about manscaping. I mean, so what if I like to trim under my arms? But his manicure is a little strange. It was the first conversation I had actually participated in with someone in a long time.

He gave me a number and I showed it to Gai. We left with the score 25:23 and he tried to get me into another match, but I told him that winning three matches in one night would be too much for me. I waited about three days, thinking about the number that I kept in my wallet. I wondered if it was really fake. I decided to try my luck.

I dialed. And it rang.

"Hello?" I heard on the other line.

"Mizuki?"


	2. Chapter 2

My heart beat fast and I could feel the adrenaline pour into my veins when I heard the voice on the other side. Could it really be Mizuki?

"No, this is Iruka, but I know a Mizuki would you like me to tell him something?"

"Oh," I said, disappointed and coming down off of my adrenaline high. I should have known it was a fake number. Why was I so hopeful anyway? Mizuki was just a guy I was dared to talk to. "No, I just met him in a bar the other day and we had a pretty good conversation going and I wondered if…well, it doesn't really matter. Sorry to bother you."

"No, it really isn't a bother," Iruka replied politely, and before I could hang up he asked, "what did you two talk about?"

I was a little surprised by the question. I wasn't sure why this guy was interested in my conversation, but I told him about it. By the end of the conversation we were laughing and he asked if I wanted to meet up with him and Mizuki in a park right around that bar we had been to. Without a thought about the papers I had to grade I said yes, grabbed my jacket and keys, and I left.

It was actually a path I walked regularly. The park that Iruka had mentioned was the park I regularly walked to every couple of nights when it was warm enough. I usually took one or nine of my many dogs with me on a walk, but I rushed down the sidewalk with the sound of their disappointed whines echoing behind me, making me feel slightly guilty.

"Don't worry boys, I'll take you all for a walk tomorrow," I yelled back to them, which caused them to all bark loudly at the sound of my voice. I hoped I didn't have another noise complaint from my neighbors posted to my door when I got home again.

I wasn't sure when I started to run, but by the time I rounded the last corner before the park came into view I had to stop myself from sprinting. I stopped for a moment to catch my breath. I sat on the curb and wiped the sweat off of my brow. Nothing had ever caused me to act this irrationally before and as I sat, trying to cool down I also tried to calm my racing mind. I had noticed that ever since "Mizuki" and I had met I had trouble concentrating because everything seemed to lead me back to a thought of what he said or a gesture he had made. My brain was almost filled with fuzz.

_What are you doing?_ I thought to myself. _Why are you running to meet up with this guy that you met once and had one little conversation with?_

There was no answer for it within my fuzzy brain. All I could think of was getting to the park to see him, so I did what my brain told me and I've never regretted it.

"Mizuki" was there alone, and I was relieved on the inside that "Iruka" wouldn't be there and I could talk to "Mizuki" alone.

"Hello there," I greeted with one hand raised and the other in my pocket. I had begun to gain my composer again, thankfully. "I see that Iruka isn't here. Why is that?"

"Oh, about that," the man before me said embarrassingly with his hand reaching to scratch the back of his head.

He told me about what had happened, and I simply shrugged and said I understood how Gai could be sometimes. We walked around the park for a while and ended up sitting on a bench until the sun kissed the earth goodnight and left. Iruka and I did the same.

For months we stayed up late talking on the phone like the teenagers that sat in my classroom. I only got a few hours of sleep and I was falling behind on grading papers, so I ended up failing a lot of kids in my class… I suppose I should feel bad about that.

Oh well.

I learned that Iruka was planning on transferring to Konoha High School to teach Humanities to freshmen. I was the sophomore Literature professor that everyone disliked because I failed people who didn't meet my standards, which were pretty high, I'll admit. But after I heard that he would be working in the same high school, I actually raised a 69.4 to a 70. It felt pretty good to be generous, but I liked being the mean teacher because then no one would try to be my "teacher's pet".

Everything was going well with Iruka. Gai was less creepy after a few more encounters with the Green Beast (a nickname he came up with for himself). Everyone thought it was great that Iruka and I had found each other, so there were no warning signs that popped up to show me what was going to happen to us. I guess it really started with the three sophomores that were assigned to my class.

_A/N: I'm really sorry that it took my so long to update. I doubt myself quite a lot when I write. It got to the point where I almost scrapped the story. I had no motivation to write this chapter. Please help me continue with a helpful comment. I don't need you to tell me it's perfect because I know it isn't, but should I improve anything (words of encouragement are welcome too)._


	3. Chapter 3

"Kakashi-sensei!" Loudmouth yelled across the room. "Why do I always have to be teamed up with Sasuke for all the projects! You and Iruka-sensei always do this to me! I can't get any of my work done with this jerk!"

"Calm down, Naruto, there is a perfectly good explanation that I have given to you multiple times. Maybe I should put it more simply: You suck at Literature. And Sasuke has the highest grade. You even each other out. Now shut up and do your brainstorming."

Iruka's favorite former-student steamed with arms crossed while Cool Guy and Pinky tried to work out how they would possibly pass this three-man exam that I was substituting for my midterm. I sat back and began to read one of my favorite books when all of a sudden hands slammed down on my desk.

"Kakashi-sensei! I can pass your project thingy all on my own, believe it!" Naruto yelled into my passive face.

"You know what Naruto you're right," I said and clapped my book closed. The class shuddered and Naruto looked sick. My sigh of annoyance had been received. "I think all of you could pass it by yourselves. In fact I don't think you need this weekend to study. You could do it now, I'm sure."

"Now wait, sensei, that's not what I meant," Naruto quickly tried to recover from the glares and threatening looks he was accumulating.

"No, no," I said with a pleasant smile, "I get your point very clearly."

I looked around at the small class that been unable to convince Tsunade to put them with another teacher. Only nine seats were filled in my classroom while the others had to borrow fold out chairs from the gym.

"All of you," I said addressing the whole class, "take out seven sheets of paper. You have until the end of this period to write your essays. You must fill every page front and back in order to start off with 100 points. Mistakes, misspellings, and incoherency will then reduce your points to your deserved grade. Good luck," I added with my smile.

"Kakashi-sensei, this isn't fair!" Kiba protested. "Don't punish us for that dumb-ass's stupidity!"

"Yeah why are we in trouble? Naruto is the one that started it," Ino whined.

"You really don't have much time to write these essays. I suggest you get started," I said, reopening my book.

When I got home that day with a stack of essays, I called Iruka instead of starting on them and asked him to come over.

"Sure," he said, "Are you sure you don't have a lot to do? You've been giving a lot of quizzes lately I hear."

"Neh, you know I can't think well unless I've seen you at least once during the day," I replied with a shrug.

"Well, ok then," he said with a little skepticism in his voice. "I'll see you in a few minutes."

I got the ring I had bought for him out of my dresser where I had been hiding it. Since we had been going out for a little over a year, I decided to ask him to move in with me. We didn't live too far away from each other anyway and we could ride to work together…of course those weren't the only reasons I wanted him to move in, he just liked it when I had more excuses than just sex.

I loved him. I knew it the day I met him.

There was a knock on the door that meant he had arrived. I opened the door and he rushed in because the wind was a little chilling.

"Hey!" he greeted quickly while making his way to the space heater quickly.

I chuckled. "Hey."

"So how are all of those quizzes coming along?" he asked.

"Oh the usual. I wait until Tsunade bugs me about putting my grades in for report cards and just approximate how high my students scored and put those grades in."

"Kakashi, you know Naruto needs to pass this class or he will be kicked out of the program. He's been working really hard. He even calls me to get tips on how to pass your tests."

"Don't worry about Naruto, Iruka I can handle him. He needs to quit being so disrespectful like today or he will have to pay for it, especially later in life when he's trying to find a job. But anyway, there's something I wanted to ask you."

"Wait, what happened today?" Iruka asked while taking his jacket off and throwing it across the back of my couch.

"He started complaining about being paired with Sasuke again, so I made them take my midterm individually today. Now onto what I had to ask."

"You made them write seven pages in one class period? What were you thinking? You'll end up failing them all if you keep punishing everyone for Naruto's attitude!"

"Don't worry," I tried to calm him and put my arms around his waist.

He pushed me away.

"No, Kakashi, you're being too rough with them! You're pushing them too far, too fast. They were all my students and I know that they would be able to do great in your class if you eased up a bit. And you know I treat Naruto like my son, why do you always pick on him?"

"Woah now take it easy," I said putting my hands up and smiling for him, "I won't be too harsh on them, I'm just preparing them for what it is really like out there in the real world. You have to work in groups on projects with people you don't like sometimes – that's all!"

Iruka crossed his arms and started to get defensive. The argument began to grow and it was getting hard for me to keep my voice from raising when his began to.

"Look, I just don't want you to mistreat my students, Kakashi. Give them a chance," he finished with a puff and looked away.

"They aren't your students anymore Iruka. They are mine. I will treat them the way I want to – the way I see fit. You have no say in the matter," I replied sternly.

"Well you know what I do have a say in? Whether or not I stay in this house for another minute longer. And I say I won't. So goodbye."

"My God, Iruka stop doing stuff like this," I said, a little annoyed that he was just leaving after an argument again. I wished he would just talk it out with me. But he didn't. He left and this time I didn't get a call saying he couldn't go to sleep without making up with me. And when I tried to call he didn't answer. I began to get worried. He didn't tell me if he had gotten home safe. I called Gai.

"Hello eternal rival! I hope you have called to invite me into another one of our invigorating challenges!"

"No Gai," I sighed. "I'm worried about Iruka."

_A/N: Writer's block is annoying. I got my story back into my mind though, so here is the next chapter! Yaaaaaaay puppies and rainbows and other good things!_


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